1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tab terminal mounted on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electrical equipment, a printed circuit board is widely used, which is formed with a conductor pattern and to which various electrical circuit component parts are mounted. Also mounted to the printed circuit board is a tab terminal that is used to connect the conductor pattern with an external electrical circuit. Typically, the tab terminal comprises contact portions soldered to the conductor pattern, and a fitting portion to which a receptacle terminal is fitted. The receptacle terminal is connected through an electric wire to an external electrical circuit (refer to JP-A-2002-324606).
The aforementioned conventional tab terminal is designed to be mounted on a printed circuit board in such a manner that it extends vertically from a surface of the printed circuit board, thus making the height dimension of a parts mounting space on the printed circuit board large. In addition, as mentioned above, the receptacle terminal is fitted to the fitting portion of the tab terminal and the wire is connected to the tab terminal, and therefore, the parts mounting space on the printed circuit board is required to have a height dimension larger than at least a total length of the tab terminal and receptacle terminal. In the case of equipment where printed circuit boards are disposed in a multi-stage fashion, the distance between the printed circuit boards must be increased, if the printed circuit board require a parts mounting space which is large in height dimension. For these reasons, equipment comprised of one or more printed circuit boards mounted with the conventional tab terminal becomes large sized. In addition, the conventional tab terminal is arranged to be mounted on the printed circuit board, with its lower leg portions inserted into holes formed in the printed circuit board. Thus, a mounting operation of the tab terminal to the printed circuit board is cumbersome, and automatic mounting using a mounter requires complicated procedures.